James Morrow's 10th novel concerns Mason Ambrose, ardent philosopher and failed doctoral candidate, who accepts $100,000 to help a wealthy teenager, Londa, recover her "moral centre" after a diving accident. Holed up on a secluded island, under Ambrose's tutelage, Londa becomes passionately committed to correcting global injustice. Ten years on, she founds a utopian city from which to help the human race become more moral. Meanwhile, Ambrose acquires a stalker who turns out to be fashioned from his wife's aborted foetal tissue. Unfortunately, this novel, aiming at satire, skids too often into the realm of the ludicrous. Morrow is awfully keen on "thought experiments" and The Philosopher's Apprentice is a giant and unsustainable one.